AGRICULTURAL NEWS - The impact of the recent widespread unrest and rioting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng on the distribution of imported agricultural chemicals and fertiliser was extremely worrying, said Corné Louw, economist at Grain SA.
He told Farmer’s Weekly that imports of agrochemicals and fertiliser from China had slowed down drastically since the outbreak of COVID-19, and that the recent riots in KwaZulu-Natal, which led to the disruption of operations at the Durban harbour, would further slow down the movement of these inputs.
“South Africa has, to date, not even caught up with the delay in imports from China [since the outbreak]. It is therefore vitally important that the matter pertaining to [the] harbour and the offloading of products be managed as a priority.
"We are about three months away from the advent of the planting season in the summer grain production region. Seed, chemicals and fertiliser constitute about 80% of maize inputs. This underpins how crucial it is to avoid shortages,” Louw added.
